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HIST 334 / CRES 384-1 Race and the Politics of Decolonization TTh 9:00–10:20 AM, Eliot 414

John Deakin, Pan-African Congress, November 1945

Conference Leader: Prof. Radhika Natarajan, radhika.natarajan@reed.edu @RadhikaAN Office Hours: Vollum 121, Thursday, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM and by appointment History Librarian: Angie Beiriger, beiriger@reed.edu This course asks, how was the struggle for decolonization in the British Empire shaped by the politics of race? How was human difference theorized and how did imperial racisms constrain the possibilities for freedom in a post-imperial world? To answer these questions we will examine freedom struggles in the British Empire, from the end of World War I to the present day. The course seeks to investigate experience, politics, and ideas. Thus, we will consider the experience of colonialism and the meanings of freedom, the question of how independence was won, and also how decolonization was a project of “world-making” that is, imagining the world beyond the hierarchies of empire. We will decenter the national frameworks of traditional decolonization narratives both by exploring the challenge of diversity within the colony/nation as well as transcolonial and international movements to instantiate freedom. We will consider the legacies of colonial rule that continued after formal independence and the ongoing struggles for decolonization that exist in multiple sites and take multiple forms

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today. Throughout, we will pay attention to the ways that race and racisms operate through gendered difference. Objectives Students will be encouraged to:

• Become familiar with theories of race, racism, and decolonization; • Think historically across space in comparative and connective ways; • Gain an understanding of the British Empire and movements for decolonization; • Identify and evaluate the mechanisms of decolonization and the continuities of empire; • Strengthen critical reading skills through discussion, interpretation, and analysis of a

range of scholarly and primary sources; • Strengthen discussion and listening skills by making productive contributions to

classroom conversation; • Develop research and writing skills, including creation of a bibliography, analysis of

secondary literature, close reading of primary sources, and writing a well-organized paper that presents a single, coherent argument.

Required Texts This semester, we will encounter scholarly monographs, novels, articles, and primary sources.

Adom Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination Lara Putnam, Radical Moves: Caribbean Migrants and the Politics of Race in the Jazz Age Ngūgī wa Thiong’o, The River Between

These books are available for purchase and rental at the Bookstore and are on reserve in the library. The remaining texts and assignments are available via Moodle. Assignments Along with classroom participation, your performance in the course will be evaluated through the following assignments (further information available on the course Moodle):

Map Quiz Sept. 12 – On a blank world map, identify contemporary nation-states that won their independence from the British Empire

Chronology Quiz Sept. 19 – On a timeline of the twentieth century, identify dates when nation-states won their independence from the British Empire

Mid-term Paper Oct. 10 – 4–6 pages. 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress Paper. Final Paper Dec. 19 – 12–15 pages. Research paper on a topic of your choice

related to decolonization and the politics of race in the British Empire. The Honor Principle and Classroom Conduct At Reed, the honor principle governs the conduct of our community. Honor is not narrowly or negatively defined, but guides how we treat each other with fairness, respect, and dignity. These ideals must be expressed not simply in attitude, but in action.

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Community requires participation, and to participate, you must show up. I expect attendance. If you have a reasonable excuse for missing class—religious holidays, illness, or family emergency—it is your responsibility to let me know ahead of time. Unexcused absences will negatively affect your grade, and more than one unexcused absence could lead to failing the course. A successful conference depends on prepared and active participants. Please come to class having completed the assigned reading. Bring the readings, as well as a means of taking notes to class. For discussion, give the conference your undivided attention by turning off your cell phone. Consider how you can foster thoughtful dialogue. When you speak, support your claims with examples from the texts or reference to remarks made by others. Attentive listening is as important as speaking to facilitating conference discussion. Dismissive or hostile comments will not be tolerated. Food is prohibited in the classroom, unless you have brought something to share with everyone. The honor principle not only applies to our discussions in class, but also to your written work. Your work must be your own. It is your responsibility (with the help of others) to learn the standards of proper citation and attribution. In this course, we will use the Chicago Manual of Style’s Notes and Bibliography system for citations. Accessibility Each of you has necessary conditions that make your participation in conference possible, and I understand that you might have financial circumstances, disabilities, chronic conditions, or contingencies that make it difficult for you to participate in class in the way that you would wish. Here are some resources to make sure you have the assistance you need to succeed in this class.

Emergency loan funds: Business Office, Eliot Hall 306 & 308 Reed Community Pantry: https://www.reed.edu/seeds/reed-community-

pantry/index.html Reed Academic Support Services: https://www.reed.edu/academic_support Reed Health and Counseling Services: https://www.reed.edu/health_center

If you need assistance or accommodation, please don’t hesitate to see me to discuss resources that are available to you. If you have not yet met Disability Support Services to document your disability and create specified accommodations, we can discuss this process in office hours. Communication In addition to treating each other honorably in conference, I encourage you to help and support each other outside of the classroom. I am also available to talk about the readings, your papers, how conference is going, etc. When I am in my office and my door is open, you are welcome to come in. I also have confirmed office hours listed on this syllabus. If you cannot make it to my office hours, please send me an email proposing a few possible times to meet (Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM). Email should primarily be used to inform me of an absence or to schedule a meeting outside of office hours. For everything else, let us talk in person.

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Week 1 Introduction: Narratives of Decolonization September 3 Introduction September 5 William Roger Louis, The Dissolution of the British Empire, Oxford History

of the British Empire, Vol. IV The Twentieth Century Adom Getachew, “Introduction,” in Worldmaking After Empire Week 2 What was Empire? September 10 Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, “Imperial Repertoires and Myths of

Modern Colonialism,” in Empires in World History Frantz Fanon, “Concerning Violence,” in The Wretched of the Earth September 12 Adom Getachew, “A Political Theory of Decolonization,” Moodle Assignment: The British Empire in 1910 *** Map Quiz *** Week 3 Imperial Violence and the limits of Self-Determination September 17 Taylor Sherman, “Jallianwallah Bagh, the Punjabi Disturbances of 1919

and the limits of State Power in India, 1919–1920,” in State Violence and Punishment in India

Susan Kingsley Kent, “The Amritsar massacre, 1919–1920,” in Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1919–1939

September 19 Susan Pedersen, “Getting Out of Iraq—in 1932: the League of Nations

and the Road to Normative Statehood” Adom Getachew, “The Counterrevolutionary Moment,” in Worldmaking

After Empire *** CHRONOLOGY QUIZ *** Week 4 Labor Migrations and Critiques of Empire September 24 Lara Putnam, Radical Moves, pp. 1–122 September 26 Lara Putnam, Radical Moves, pp. 123–240 Week 5 Postwar Possibilities October 1 Hakim Adi, “Pan-Africanism in Britain: Background to the 1945

Manchester Congress” George Padmore, ed., A History of the Pan-African Congress October 3 Anupama Rao, “Dalits as a Political Minority” Uditi Sen, “Developing Terra Nullius: Colonialism, Nationalism, and

Indigeneity in the Andaman Islands”

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Week 6 Gender, Sex, and the Family October 8 Sanjam Ahluwalia, “A Fractured Discourse: Colonial Attitudes on Birth

Control in the Twentieth Century,” in Reproductive Restraints Nicole Bourbonnais, “The Answer, an Aid, a Right,” Birth Control in the

Decolonizing Caribbean October 10 Jessica Namakkal, “Decolonizing Marriage and the Family: the Lives and

Letters of Ida, Benoy, and Indira Sarkar” Christopher Lee, Unreasonable Histories *** Paper 1 Due *** Week 7 Thinking Decolonization October 15 Adom Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 71–141 October 17 Adom Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire, pp. 142–182 *** FALL BREAK *** Week 8 Migrations, Minorities, and the Problem of Nation October 29 Anna Belogurova, “The Malayan Communist Party and the Malayan

Chinese Association: Internationalism and Nationalism in Overseas Chinese Political Participation,” c. 1920–1960

Jayita Sarkar, “Rohingyas and the Unfinished Business of Partition” Jayita Sarkar, “How World War II Shaped the Crisis in Myanmar” Jonathan Saha, “Rohingya Identity and the Limits to History” October 31 Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, 218–295 Week 9 Negotiating Freedom in the Cold War World November 5 Claudia Jones, “American Imperialism and the British West Indies” “ A Peoples’ Art is the Genesis of their Freedom” “The Caribbean Community in Britain” Moodle: Articles from the West Indian Gazette November 7 Vijay Prashad, “Bandung” in The Darker Nations Asia-Africa Speaks from Bandung Week 10 Post-imperial Re-engagement November 12 Radhika Natarajan, “Performing Multiculturalism: The Commonwealth

Arts Festival of 1965” Jordanna Bailkin, “Young Britons: International Aid and ‘Development’ in

the Age of the Adolescent” Moodle: Commonwealth Arts Festival Image Gallery

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November 14 Timothy Mitchell, “The Prize from Fairyland,” in Carbon Democracy Chibuike Uche, Oil, British Interests, and the Nigerian Civil War Week 11 Decolonization was not an Event November 19 George Manuel and Michael Posluns, “Introduction” and “The Fourth

World” Glen Sean Coulthard, “Introduction” Joel Hebert, “Sacred Trust”: Rethinking Late British Decolonization in

Indigenous Canada November 21 J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, “A Structure not an Event”: Settler Colonialism and

Induring Indigenity Ranginui Walker, Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle without End Moodle Assignment: Maori Protest Movements Week 12 Decolonization as Ongoing Politics, 1 November 26 Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, “Decolonization is not a Metaphor” Moodle Assignment: Ongoing Politics of Decolonization *** THANKSGIVING *** Week 13 Postcolonialism? Reckoning with the Colonial Past December 3 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, The River Between December 5 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, The River Between

Week 14 Decolonization as Ongoing Politics, 2 December 10 Moodle Assignment: Ongoing Politics of Decolonization Reading and Exam Week December 19 *** FINAL PAPER DUE ***